Madrid newspaper AS is reporting that we are one of five teams pursuing Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The Croatian international told Marca last week that he wants to leave the Bernabeu, and it is believed that us, Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milan and Roma are all keen on signing the 24-year-old.
Some fans on Twitter were keen on us pursuing the player while others are sceptical about the source of the story:
Hope it’s true would be dream signing
— İsmail Çelebi (@ElebiIso) 25 June 2018
Y’all don know that his release clause is 300m?
— ~ (@Ali_Thfc) 25 June 2018
He’s also said that he wants to leave Real so we wouldn’t have to pay anything near that
— Matthew Cole (@Ade456matt) 25 June 2018
time to FINALLY cash in on this: ”The strong relationship and affinity between our two clubs has resulted in the cementing of a longer-term partnership… We look forward to working closely with Tottenham in the coming years.” Florentino Perez 27 aug 2012
— pea karlsson (@peakarlsson) 25 June 2018
“Hi matteo, Spurs here. We are goin to be bringing Gareth home.. if u could just pass on the message. Thanks”
— ????XBOSS???? (@xbossofxbox) 25 June 2018
now this I could get excited about
— Steve Day (@SteveDay17) 25 June 2018
That source is always wrong 🙁
— jason o halloran (@jasonoh22) 25 June 2018
Fond memories of Croatians at spurs
— Bobby Spurs (@Bobby_Spurs) 25 June 2018
Another deal that won’t happen
— G1smith (@g1smith_0) 25 June 2018
Verdict:
Both Madrid publications AS and Marca are more accurate when it comes to stories relating to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid so I wouldn’t rule out our interest in the Croatian.
However, it’s unlikely that we would be able to sign the midfielder. He has a €300m (£264m) release clause and Real are reluctant to sell so the deal would prove extremely costly to pull off.
Kovacic would be perfect for us to replace Dembele if the Belgian departs, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on a transfer happening.